A Skywalker Story

First Day of Temple Training

"Leia!" Luke called out to me. Wait, why was Luke here? I was on the planet Endor with my furry Ewok friends sharing a lovely feast...

"Leia! Wake up!" Luke called again.

I stirred slowly awake and looked up to see the upside-down grin of a blonde teenager staring down at me from the top bunk of the room I shared with my twin brother. Luke's strange way of waking me up had at first been quite disturbing, but I was finally starting to get used to it. 

"Luke, seriously? I was having a really great dream," I said, very annoyed. 

"Leia, seriously? Today is our first day at the Training Temple!" Luke interjected with enthusiasm that I could not even begin to comprehend at such an early hour. 

Holy moly! How had I forgotten about our Jedi training? This was going to be a big day for both of us and we could finally be a part of something bigger than helping out our Aunt and Uncle with speeder repairs and desert farming. 

I quickly threw back my bed covers and ran to my chest to find something cool to wear. I picked a white dress that went down to just above my knees, a brown leather jacket, and tall brown leather boots. I then styled my hair how I typically did, with two large buns on either side of my head. I struggled to keep my thick, dark brown hair in the up-do so I used hair nets (they didn't even show!) and a ton of hair pins (also no-show).

"I see you went for your usual cinnamon rolls," Luke said with a laugh that lit up his blue eyes. 

"Oh, shut up," I replied, rolling my brown eyes. I noticed that Luke had picked an all-tan outfit comprised of a tan tunic, tan pants, and tan boots, complete with a brown leather belt. We looked totally awesome. 

Luke and I grabbed a delicious glass of blue milk on our way out, then set off to the Training Temple. We were going to be Padawans trained by Master Yoda himself.

"I am so ready. What about you?" I asked Luke.

"Well, I'm a bit scared to be honest. I was all excited earlier but now I'm kind of worried. I just don't know if I'll make a good Jedi."

His response had really surprised me. I took my brother's hand in mine and gave it a quick squeeze.  

"You'll be great. Maybe someday even a Jedi Master. I have faith in you. You've just got to have faith in yourself," I encouraged him.

"Thanks, Leia. I needed to hear that," Luke replied. 

We walked the rest of the way in silence, finally reaching the grand Jedi Temple. Once inside, Luke and I joined four other Padawans who looked about our age. A girl with chocolate-toned skin and curly ebony hair walked up to where my brother and I were standing.

"Hi, I'm Zuri," she introduced herself.

"Leia. And this is my twin brother, Luke," I replied. Luke could be pretty shy around new people, especially girls, so I thought it best to introduce the both of us myself. 

Zuri shook both of our hands. We also met Quillen, who wouldn't stop talking about his new droid, C-583; Skyla with her short purple hair; and shy Asher who was wearing a black leather jacket. There were only the six of us, but we were all passionate about becoming Jedis. 

"Welcome, young Padawans. Begin today, your training will. Master Yoda, I am." 

He was not what I was expecting at all. This short, old green guy with his large ears and strange backwards way of talking was not exactly the chiseled, strong, young, and not to mention tall, Jedi Master I'd had in mind. However, I immediately took a liking to Master Yoda. He seemed like a very wise and very good teacher. I could tell now that Yoda sensed a bit of unease in the room. 

"Judge me by my size, you should not. Come now young ones, and let us begin," said Master Yoda. He then led us to a large room filled with racks of cloaks and tables of lightsaber hilts. We were instructed to pick a cloak and saber for our training. After putting my brown cloak over my leather jacket, I chose the hilt of a lightsaber that was gold and silver and had a paint-splotched purple design at the top. The others were testing their lightsabers, so I decided to activate mine. To my delight, I found the blade to be a lovely shade of purple, my favorite color. I saw that Luke, Zuri, and Skyla had all chosen blue sabers, while Quillen and Asher had chosen green. It was absolutely amazing to finally be holding one of these famous light swords in my own hand. I gave the saber a quick spin and found it to be lightweight and very maneuverable. Finally, it was lesson time. 

"Choose a partner, you must. Duel, you will," Master Yoda instructed. 

I of course chose my brother while Zuri partnered with Quillen and Skyla with Asher. 

"Ready?" I asked Luke, activating my purple lightsaber and hearing the steady hum of its power.

"Ready," he replied, his blue lightsaber coming alive.

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"Well, that was fun," I told Luke as we headed to the cantina after our first Jedi Training with Master Yoda.

"It would've been if you'd had let me win a few rounds," he said, a trace of annoyance in his voice. 

"Oh, come on. You know I was going easy on you," I replied truthfully. Well, maybe that wasn't the exact truth.

"Whatever. There's always tomorrow," Luke replied, patting the hilt of his blue lightsaber that he'd clipped to his brown belt. 

"We'll see," I told him, feeling the bulkiness of my own lightsaber in the pocket of my leather jacket. 

We reached the cantina and went up to order our typical non-alcoholic green milk. I was surprised to see a new face working for the cantina's manager, Simma Tuckett. Simma was a buff-looking woman with wild eyes and a hard heart. However, she liked us most of the time. She knew us kids wouldn't cause any trouble. But honestly, I had no idea she would hire people our age. 

"What can I get for you two?" The boy asked.

"Two glasses of green milk, please," Luke answered as I stared at this young, and quite attractive, new bartender. 

"Here you go," the boy replied, handing us our drinks.

"How old are you?" Luke asked the question I had been trying to form in my mind, the mind that was currently being overridden by thoughts of how cute this guy was and how I was going to come to the cantina every day after my training and become close friends with this guy and maybe even...

"I'm 17," was the guy's reply. Only two years older than Luke and I. Not too bad.

"Oh, cool. I didn't know Simma was hiring that young. Leia and I come here a lot but didn't realize she was hiring," Luke said.

"Uh, yeah, I just moved here and was looking for a place to earn some profit and she hired me," he replied. 

"I'm so sorry we never introduced ourselves. I'm Luke Skywalker and this is my twin sister, Leia."

"Oh, sister! Nice to meet you!" The boy replied enthusiastically. His entire aura had changed once he found out Luke and I were siblings. I wondered if he had assumed Luke and I were dating... 

"I'm Han. Han Solo," he added, smirking. Maybe I was just daydreaming, but I could swear that I saw the slightest wink directed straight at me. I was filled with a strange feeling of giddiness and nervousness like I'd never felt before. I knew straight away what was happening. I was developing feelings for Han Solo...